Posted: 16th Jan 2012 (0 comments)
It is fascinating to read the ‘Wills’ column in the newspapers and see who has left part of their wealth to charitable causes. These people have obviously thought seriously about supporting organisations that they were interested in during their lives. Unfortunately, not many people get around to doing this. Indeed, too many people die without making a will at all. Others make a will and think it cannot be changed.
Posted: 20th Dec 2011 (0 comments)
New Year is an opportunity to take an inventory of our lives and make resolutions for the year ahead, but most of us realise how unrealistic we are in those first few days of January, and how undisciplined we are at keeping resolutions. This can bring feelings of failure and disappointment before the year’s even started. January is named after the Roman god Janus, depicted as a two-faced man looking towards both the past and the future.
As we think about New Year’s resolutions we can look in three directions: at yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Posted: 30th Nov 2011 (0 comments)
There was once a successful businessman who came from a large, close-knit but hard-up family. One year, when it came to December, he realised that he was far too busy to buy his relatives presents. So he decided to send each of them – there were twenty of them – a £100 cheque. He bought a pile of Christmas cards and a cheque book into his office and, between answering the phone and holding business meetings, managed to write a single sentence in twenty separate cards: ‘I thought you should buy your own Christmas present this year!’
Posted: 23rd Nov 2011 (0 comments)
No US holiday is as distinctive as Thanksgiving, held on the last Thursday of November. In our busy, deadline-fixated age, expressing gratitude to our heavenly Father is too easily squeezed out of our lives but it is important. Firstly, I think human beings are ‘hardwired’ to do this. Even atheists seem to have unsettling moments when they feel an irresistible urge to thank someone ‘up there’. One of the problems with atheism occurs when pain is avoided or pleasure gained – having no one to give thanks to leaves you with an itch you cannot scratch.
Posted: 24th Oct 2011 (0 comments)
Ezekiel 28: 12-19
12"Son of man, weep for the king of Tyre. Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD: You were the perfection of wisdom and beauty. 13You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone--red carnelian, chrysolite, white moonstone, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald--all beautifully crafted for you and set in the finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created. 14I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire.
Posted: 24th Oct 2011 (0 comments)
Imagine you are walking past a house when you notice a child sobbing in the garden or, late at night, you hear shouting and frightened screams coming from next door. What do you do? I hope you would do something. You would not walk on or just turn your music up. You would act, and probably without even thinking about it. We all know that, when suffering is happening and tragedy is imminent, to act is the only right – the only decent – thing to do. We must intervene.
Posted: 11th Oct 2011 (0 comments)
Like everybody else I was saddened by Steve Jobs’ death. I appreciate the way that he pioneered to make computers and phones look and work better. Even if you don't use Apple products, you have to acknowledge that almost all of our digital equipment now aspires to the style and quality that Steve Jobs promoted – and is better for it. The worldwide outpouring of grief over the death of Apple’s entrepreneur and spokesman has, however,been fascinating in its extent and intensity. Of course, in turning round Apple, Jobs was a financial success (very much a rarity these days) but the response is surely based on more than that. What is clear is that the man inspired confidence and belief in a way that very few other people in our time have done.
Posted: 11th Aug 2011 (0 comments)
On the 11th September 2001, the world stood in shock as 3,042 lives were tragically lost by violent attacks. The world gathered in prayer to God with indescribable sadness and groaning. We continue to pray today for God’s peace on all the families and friends who are still affected by their loss.
Posted: 10th Aug 2011 (13 comments)
Many people had long felt that there was something very nasty lurking beneath the placid waters of British society. The sudden, brutal and mindless violence that erupted in large parts of London and other cities over the last few days was an unpleasant demonstration that this potential for nastiness was not only real, but closer to the surface than anybody feared. Just as troubling was the realisation that the police – those traditional guardians of the once secure British way of life – might be powerless to deal with it.
Posted: 28th Jul 2011 (0 comments)
On the 26th of July, after some years of failing health, John Stott finally slipped quietly away to glory. I was one of many people blessed by his ministry and to me he was - and always will be - 'Uncle John.'
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